Etymology

The name Việt Nam (Vietnamese pronunciation: [viə̀t naːm]) is a variation of Nam Việt (
Chinese: 南越;
pinyin: Nányuè; literally "Southern Việt"), a name that can be traced back to the
Triệu Dynasty of the 2nd century BC.[14] The word Việt originated as a shortened form of
Bách Việt (
Chinese: 百越;
pinyin: Bǎiyuè), a group of people then living in southern China and Vietnam.[15] The form "Vietnam" (越南) is first recorded in the 16th-century oracular poem Sấm Trạng Trình. The name has also been found on 12
steles carved in the 16th and 17th centuries, including one at Bao Lam Pagoda in
Haiphong that dates to 1558.[16]

In 1802,
Nguyễn Phúc Ánh established the
Nguyễn dynasty, and in the second year, he asked the Qing Emperor
Jiaqing to confer him the title 'King of Nam Viet/Nanyue' (南越 in Chinese), but the
Grand Secretariat of Qing dynasty pointed out that the name Nam Viet/Nanyue includes regions of
Guangxi and
Guangdong in China, and '
Nguyễn Phúc Ánh only has Annam, which is simply the area of our old Jiaozhi (交趾), how can they be called Nam Viet/Nanyue?' Then, as recorded, '(Qing dynasty) rewarded Yuenan/Vietnam (越南) as their nation's name, ..., to also show that they are below the region of Baiyue/Bach Viet'.[17]